School's out

The following comments reflect the views of DW-WORLD.DE readers. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

German companies disappointed with bachelor graduates

These responses are from the Deutsche Welle Facebook page:

[Students] need to be taught to think outside the [box] and to do, no matter what it takes on personal level, what is needed to be done for the nation. -- Grace

I recently graduated from a polytechnic in Canada and we only had six weeks of practicum - and that was only two days per week! This school is rated 'the best' from a 'company' perspective and graduates from this school seem to get hired more than students at our universities. Six weeks part-time is a joke! It should be minimum five weeks full-time. This was a three-year program squeezed into 18 months, however, so perhaps six weeks part-time was all they could manage. -- Monique

I think the education system is based too much on what companies want. First they wanted young employees who haven't spent too much time studying - they got the Bachelor and Master degrees, now they're not satisfied with those. Tomorrow they want something else and the day after tomorrow everything has changed again. I agree with Grace, students should acquire more "soft skills" such as thinking outside the box, teamwork, and reflecting over one's actions. Most of the theory can be learned from books as well, that's not what universities are about. -- Karin

The companies are not satisfied with the people who were supposedly educated according to their very specific needs? As I see it, the Bologna process is the process of narrowing down learning. If the base for thinking is so narrow, no one can expect "thinking out of the box." To make unexpected connections and see processes, one needs a very wide information basis, not just knowledge of some "technologies." -- Anna

I'm not sure if it was a good idea to agree to the Bologna process. As a teacher I see it everyday. Students only study for their exams but not for knowledge. They are narrow-minded and have no idea what life is like. Sure, a couple of years ago, students studied longer, but at least they had the time to do internships and broaden their horizons on ideas they thought might interest them. I was even encouraged to do so, but now, it's sad to say that they don't have any experience. But it's not their fault. If you shorten everything to make them more employable it may be that you get the opposite. -- Dorit

I don't get it. Most students here in Kenya have a desire to study in a European country. Our education system in Kenya is so involving, I mean it is like we are being overloaded with schoolwork. Anyway education systems keep on evolving with time and generations. -- Lawrence

Try finding a graduate in information technology. They are all what I call glorified users of PCs. They can't code, can't design and can't apply thinking. -- David

Compiled by Stuart Tiffen
Editor: Nancy Isenson